To defend the fatherland
To the front, into the war
That's what I've written on my banner
Ecstatic, I boarded the train
Victorious, we want to smash France
A call roars like a thunderclap
Many meters before the battle line
You can already hear the shells' roar
The company stands in reserve
Yet I can see no man's land
It flashes, it rumbles, the steel storm
A world fire wrought by artillery
The first mission now awaits
Packed tight, man by man
The stench of death and explosive fumes
Wafts from the trenches to us
To defend the fatherland
To the front, into the war
That's what I've written on my banner
Ecstatic, I boarded the train
Victorious, we want to smash France
A call roars like a thunderclap
Many meters before the battle line
You can already hear the shells' roar